Education Week contributing writer Bryan Toporek brings you K-12 sports coverage that reaches far beyond box scores. He has written about education for Education Week and Education Week Teacher, high school sports for the Falls Church News-Press in Virginia, and is currently a Quality Editor for Bleacher Report.

Administrator Injured Trying to Break Up Brawl at Girls' Basketball Game

With just four minutes left in an 8th grade county championship girls' basketball game in Indianapolis last Thursday, a school administrator was injured attempting to break up a brawl that erupted among parents in the bleachers.

Ken Cox, the assistant principal and athletic director of Westlane Middle School, was treated at the hospital and released following the brawl, according to The Indianapolis Star. The fight began between two adults, but quickly escalated and spilled onto the court, with one witness telling the paper at least 40 people were involved.

At the time, the Westlane girls held a 14-point lead over their foes from Creston Middle School, Westlane's principal, Linda Lawrence, said in a note to parents following the incident. She stressed that the school's students "were not seated near the altercation and remained in their section of the bleachers."

The game was cancelled following the fight. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police investigated the brawl, although no arrests were made Thursday night. Brian Clouse, Westlane's head of security, told the Star that school officials are also conducting an internal investigation.

"We applaud the athletes from both competing teams and know that inappropriate choices by spectator adults does not tarnish their outstanding seasons and efforts they have made," the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township said in a statement, per Fox 59.

In December, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a handful of recommendations to rein in unruly parents, largely to prevent situations like the one that happened between Westlake and Creston last week. No youth-sports parent should want to end up like this, after all:

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